The Day of Pentecost
June 8th, anno + Domini
2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer
and Hill City, South Dakota
How to Recognize and Find the Holy Spirit
Audio of Sermon available HERE
How do we recognize the Holy Spirit? Short of a mighty rushing wind and tongues of fire descending on our heads, is there some way for us to reliably find Him? These are important questions, eternal-life-and-death determining questions, actually. Every Christian should be able to answer them clearly. But, even though Jesus Himself promised to send His Spirit to His Church as a helper, comforter, teacher and encourager, there is not widespread agreement amongst the followers of Jesus about the Holy Spirit. This confusion and disagreement about the Holy Spirit is sad and distressing. The Holy Spirit is God, and so, since salvation and joy depend on knowing God as He reveals Himself, we should understand the Holy Spirit as well as possible. So, on this Day of Pentecost, when we celebrate again the coming of the 3rd person of the Trinity upon the infant Church, we ask for the Spirit’s help to clear up our misunderstandings and teach us about Himself.
The Shy Member of the Holy Trinity. Some theologians have described the Holy Spirit as the shy member of the Holy Trinity. That is, the Holy Spirit, despite being God Almighty, does not attract attention to Himself. Rather, He is described by Scripture as giving glory to the Father by revealing the Son and His great work. For example, in the Upper Room on the night He was betrayed, Jesus said: …when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13-15)
The Holy Spirit speaks of the Father and the Son, not of Himself. He, like the Father and the Son, is eternal, almighty, fully God. But His joy, the task He loves to do, is to give glory to the Father by revealing Christ Jesus, His Son, and the great work He has done to redeem the world and save sinners. So, one way we can recognize the Holy Spirit is when we are hearing about Jesus, and the Father, and the free gift of salvation.
In His focus on speaking of the Father and the Son, we see that the Holy Spirit is Trinitarian. From the first words of the Bible, when God created the heavens and the earth and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters, to the Baptism of Jesus, when in the form of a dove He descended and remained upon Jesus, the Father’s beloved Son, to Revelation’s symbolic depiction of the Holy Spirit as Seven Spirits surrounding the throne of God and the Lamb, the Holy Spirit sheds light on the mystery of God, that the one true God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons that form one eternal unity.
The mystery of God is beyond our full
comprehension in this life, but St. Augustine’s fifth century description is
helpful. While no human attempt to
explain the Trinity is perfect, Augustine suggests we can think of God the
Father as the Lover, the Source of Love.
God the Son is the Beloved, the special object of the Father’s
affection. And we can think of God the
Holy Spirit as the Love of the Father and the Son, going back and forth between
them. Always remembering, of course,
that the Spirit is not just a feeling or an emanation, but is a distinct person
in the Godhead, Himself fully God. God
is love, as the Apostle John teaches us (1 John 4:8), including God the Holy
Spirit.
Since the Holy Spirit is Love, it is not surprising that He is also Christ-focused, for Jesus is the revelation of the Father’s Love to us. God wants sinners to be separated from their sin and come into His Love, and so the Holy Spirit seeks always to show the world Jesus. He must do this, for, as Christ taught His Apostles in the Upper Room, no one comes to the Father, no one comes into His Love, except through Jesus Christ. (John 14:6)
This exclusivity of Christian teaching about salvation is hated by many. That there is salvation in no other god or religion, that only in the Name of Christ Jesus can anyone be saved, this unpopular message reminds us that the Holy Spirit is also always the Truth Teller. As we heard a few moments ago, Jesus even called Him the Spirit of Truth. God’s Truth is always unpopular with the world, and, truth be told, is unpopular with all of us, some of the time. For on this side of heaven, we are still sinners, still prone to preferring the lies of the evil one. But in Love, the Holy Spirit maintains the Truth, because there is no life apart from the Truth that God has revealed in Jesus.
The Holy Spirit speaks through the Word. The Spirit of Truth has specially delivered His Truth to us in the inspired Word of the Bible. Working through the Prophets and Apostles who wrote the Old and New Testaments, the Spirit has given, and has maintained through 20 centuries a good and reliable Book that will not let us down, even when it makes us uncomfortable. The Holy Spirit, as He first did on Pentecost, has continually worked through His Church to provide His reliable Word, most especially through Bibles translated into thousands of different languages, God’s primary tool, His means for reaching out to all nations with the Word of Life.
The Holy Spirit speaks intelligibly. He also can and does intercede for us to the Father, in groans too deep for words. (Romans 8:26) But for us men and for our salvation, the Word He causes to be proclaimed to people is an intelligible Word. At Babel, when proud humanity refused to spread out and fill the earth as God had instructed, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit came down to see their attempt to make a name for themselves, to see the tower they were building to heaven. Knowing that left unchecked, our pride would close our ears to His Word forever, the Lord confused their languages, terminating the tower project, and forcing mankind to spread out and fill the earth. The confusion of languages was a necessary trouble, an obstacle to human pride and self-worship, until the right time came to reverse the curse.
The Day of Pentecost was that right time, the beginning of the reversal of Babel. Now that Jesus had achieved free and full forgiveness for all sins, the Good News of this gracious miracle needed to go out to every tribe and tongue and nation. The miracle of tongues was not a miracle of chaos, but of order. The Galilean Apostles and Disciples were miraculously given the ability to preach God’s mighty deeds in languages they had never learned, a miracle that attracted a crowd, so that Peter could then preach Christ crucified and resurrected, the One who is received in Holy Baptism.
Along with the clarity of the message that the Holy Spirit gave on Pentecost, He has also given clarity to His Written Word. There are many things that are hard for our weak, fallen minds to grasp in the Bible, and there are some mysteries that we can only understand partially, mysteries that reveal saving truths, like the Holy Trinity, or the fact that Jesus Christ is both true God and true Man, in one person, or that God through human speech and humble materials like water and bread and wine can and does deliver the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation.
We cannot understand these mysteries fully, but we can understand them at a basic, saving level. The Bible is very clear about who God is, how utterly sinful humanity is, and how Jesus has overcome our just condemnation in His Cross and Resurrection. Understanding God’s Word requires humility and patience on our part, gifts given by the Holy Spirit as well. It is a lie of the Devil to say that God’s Word is unclear, or that only certain “gifted” sages can rightly interpret it. God’s Word is clear. The children’s song “Jesus Loves me” is incomplete; no one ought to end their growth in faith with this song. But “Jesus Loves Me” is also correct in a profound way: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Amen, tell me more, Holy Spirit, tell me more.
He will and He does. You do not have to wonder where to go to find and learn from the Holy Spirit. He has bound Himself to the Word. Most especially for the purposes of teaching the Gospel, He has bound Himself to the Holy Scriptures, the Prophetic and Apostolic Word of the Old and New Testaments. This is the “where” of finding the Holy Spirit. Now, to be sure, the Holy Spirit, along with the Father and the Son, is everywhere. In Him we live and move and have our being. But He has not promised to teach us unto salvation in a lovely meadow, a lofty woods, or on a mountain peak. There is a certain knowledge of our Creator to be found in nature, to be sure. But, the Truth of our sin, our need, and the glory and grace of God’s victory over our sin, death and over the devil are only revealed in the Word the Holy Spirit has inspired for His Church.
The Holy Spirit is outside of us. At first take, this might seem negative, but the truth is that the “outside-of-us” character and action of God is very good news. God through His Law and Gospel no doubt has a tremendous impact inside of us, on our emotions, on our understanding, on our wills, and on our very bodies. But we cannot look for salvation inside ourselves, and indeed we are never told by God to try. Nor are we taught to listen to whatever spirit we think we are hearing. Looking to our interior to find God, or listening to whatever spirit is whispering to our hearts, these are spiritually dangerous pass-times. For we all have powerful opinions and feelings and urges, and not all of them are Godly. And there are many spirits speaking to us. Apart from the reliable witness of the Holy Spirit, we are very susceptible to being fooled. Following our hearts, or our own impression, or our own desires, will lead us away from God and His Kingdom.
To rescue us, God comes to us, from outside of us. He comes with His unique and exclusive message of salvation, revealed in Christ Jesus. God came down from heaven to Babel, to prevent those souls from cutting themselves off forever from His Love. God came down into the burning bush, and in the pillars of cloud and fire, and into the Holy of Holies to protect, sustain and guide ancient Israel. God the Son came down from way outside us, down from glory, and took on our flesh, in order to deliver salvation to us through His life, death and resurrection.
And God continues to come to us from the outside, through His spoken Word, to create and sustain the faith that receives Jesus, His forgiveness, and His eternal life. It is the very best news that God comes to us from outside us, to forgive, restore and love us, inside and out, for today, and forever and ever.
A couple more ways to know we are hearing the Holy Spirit. He is the Sin-Hater. Through His Word, He defines sin for us, and hates every instance of our rebellion against His will. God the Holy Spirit hates sin, and any soul who insists on clinging to sin, even denying that sin is sin, such a foolish soul is inviting God’s hatred of sin to fall on them. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us. And apart from this Truth, no one will ever come to the Father, no one will ever escape His righteous wrath against sin.
This word of God’s hatred of sin hurts. Many say it is too harsh. But this is exactly the work of the Holy Spirit that set up the great harvest of souls on the original Day of Pentecost. Peter preached the Holy Spirit’s truth unflinchingly, including the worst indictment, that you crucified Jesus, whom God has made both Lord and Christ. The hearers were cut to the heart. This is what the proclamation of God’s hatred of sin is meant to do, to lay bare our condition, and the justice of our condemnation, to show us our need, so we are prepared for God’s better Word.
For God the Holy Spirit is even more the Sin-Forgiver. God’s stern word of law is preached for repentance, for bringing souls to know their need for a Savior. This then, is when the Sin-Forgiving Holy Spirit delivers His better Word. For if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. To all who repent of their sins and their sinfulness, and call out to God for rescue, the Holy Spirit proclaims the rescue that Jesus has accomplished for all people. This is the life-restoring Word, the Gospel Word, the radical, Cross-and-Empty-Tomb-centered surprise, that even those who literally nailed Jesus to the tree are still covered by His blood. For Jesus is the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. All of it. So, His blood cleanses us from all sin. (John 1:29 and 1 John 1:7) By causing our hearts to trust this greatest Word, the Holy Spirit is indeed the Giver of Life.
In all this we can see that the Holy Spirit is Evangelical, seeking to deliver the Good News of forgiveness in Christ to all people. The Spirit is Churchly, establishing and sustaining His congregations all around the world, as the central place of His proclamation, that in turn leads Jesus to be proclaimed beyond Sunday morning. The Spirit also has a great midweek missionary work, done through all His people. The Missionary work of the Holy Spirit then leads more people to be drawn to His Sacramental work, where all the Gifts of Christ are delivered through Preaching, Baptism, Absolution and Supper.
Finally, the Holy Spirit who forgives and gives life also is the Fruit Producer. Those good works that God has prepared in advance for us to walk in? These are revealed and we are empowered to walk in them by the Spirit of Christ. Faith, hope, praise and thanksgiving. Love, humility, joy, perseverance in suffering and even persecution. Love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, love for our neighbors, and even love for enemies. These all are signs of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing work, for all this fruit speaks of and points to Christ, and to His Father, who sent Him to be the Savior of the World.
For
all of this, the shy Holy Spirit is always at work, through His Holy Word. In these things, He knows you, and loves you,
and so also you know and love Him, today, and forever and ever, in the Name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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